SaveroftheFranks's Personal Name List
Ziva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: זִיוָה(Hebrew)
Ziv
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: זִיו(Hebrew)
Means "bright, radiant" in Hebrew. This was the ancient name of the second month of the Jewish calendar.
Zita 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, German, Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian, Latvian
Pronounced: DZEE-ta(Italian) TSEE-ta(German) ZI-ta(Czech) ZEE-ta(Slovak) zyi-TU(Lithuanian)
Means
"little girl" in Tuscan Italian. This was the name of a 13th-century
saint, the patron saint of servants.
Zinnia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ZIN-ee-ə
From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
Yvon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EE-VAWN
Yvette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: EE-VEHT(French) ee-VEHT(English) i-VEHT(English)
French feminine form of
Yves.
Yvelise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EEV-LEEZ
Feminine form of
Yves (or an elaboration using
Élise). It was (first?) borne by the title character in the Italian novel
Yvelise (1923) by Guido da Verona. It later appeared in the photonovel
Yvelise devant l'amour published in the French magazine
Nous Deux in 1950.
Yveline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EEV-LEEN
Ysabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Archaic)
Pronounced: ee-sa-BEHL
Medieval Spanish form of
Isabel.
Yorath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh (Rare)
Xystos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ξύστος(Ancient Greek)
Xena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: ZEE-nə(English)
Probably a variant of
Xenia. This was the name of the main character in the 1990s television series
Xena: Warrior Princess.
Wulf
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: VUWLF
Wolfhard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: VAWLF-hart
Derived from the Old German element
wolf meaning "wolf" combined with
hart meaning "hard, firm, brave, hardy".
Wolfdietrich
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, German (Rare)
Compound of
Wolf and
Dietrich. Wolfdietrich is the title hero of a 13th-century Middle High German epic poem. By some traditions he is the grandfather of the more famous hero Dietrich von Bern.
Wolf
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Jewish, English (Rare), Germanic [1]
Other Scripts: װאָלףֿ(Yiddish)
Pronounced: VAWLF(German) WUWLF(English)
Short form of
Wolfgang,
Wolfram and other names containing the Old German element
wolf meaning
"wolf" (Proto-Germanic *
wulfaz). It can also be simply from the German or English word. As a Jewish name it can be considered a vernacular form of
Zeev.
Witek
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Wessel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian, Dutch
Pronounced: VEH-səl(Dutch)
Werner
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: VEHR-nu(German) VEHR-nər(Dutch)
From an Old German name derived from the element
warin, related to
war meaning "aware, cautious", combined with
heri meaning "army". This was the name of a 13th-century boy from Oberwesel, Germany who was formerly regarded as a
saint. He is no longer recognized as such by the Church. Another famous bearer was the German physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976).
Wednesday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: WENZ-day(English)
From the name of the day of the week, which was derived from Old English
wodnesdæg meaning "
Woden's day". On the
Addams Family television series (1964-1966) this was the name of the daughter, based on an earlier unnamed character in Charles Addams' cartoons. Her name was inspired by the popular nursery rhyme line
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Warner
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAWR-nər
From a Norman surname that was derived from the given name
Werner.
Vortigern
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: VAWR-ti-gərn(English)
Volkmar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FAWLK-mar
Derived from the Old German element
folk "people" combined with
mari "famous".
Vitomir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene
Other Scripts: Витомир(Serbian)
Derived from the Slavic elements
vitŭ "master, lord" and
mirŭ "peace, world".
Vissarion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian (Archaic), Greek
Other Scripts: Виссарион(Russian) Βησσαρίων(Greek)
Russian form and Modern Greek transcription of
Bessarion.
Vida 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: VEE-daw
Verner
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish
Velvel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: װעלװל(Yiddish)
Means
"little wolf" in Yiddish, a
diminutive of
װאָלףֿ (volf) meaning "wolf". This is a vernacular form of
Zeev.
Valentine 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VAL-in-tien
From the Roman
cognomen Valentinus, which was itself a derivative of the cognomen
Valens meaning
"strong, vigorous, healthy" in Latin.
Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century martyr. His feast day was the same as the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, which resulted in the association between Valentine's Day and love.
As an English name, it has been used occasionally since the 12th century. It is the name of a central character in Shakespeare's play The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594).
Usagi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: OO-SA-GYEE(Japanese)
Means "rabbit" in Japanese. This name was used on the Japanese television show Sailor Moon, which first aired in the 1990s.
Una
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: OO-nə
Anglicized form of Irish
Úna or Scottish
Ùna. It is also associated with Latin
una, feminine form of
unus meaning
"one". The name features in Edmund Spenser's poem
The Faerie Queene (1590).
Ulrike
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: uwl-REE-kə
German feminine form of
Ulrich.
Ulrik
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: OOL-rik
Ulrich
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: UWL-rikh(German)
From the Old German name
Odalric, derived from the element
uodil "heritage" combined with
rih "ruler, king". This was the name of two German
saints. Another famous bearer was Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), also known as Huldrych, the leader of the
Protestant Reformation in Switzerland.
Ulric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: UWL-rik
Middle English form of the Old English name
Wulfric. When it is used in modern times, it is usually as a variant of
Ulrich.
Tyrell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Pronounced: TIR-əl(English) tie-REHL(English) tə-REHL(English)
From a surname that was a variant of
Terrell. Influenced by similar-sounding names such as
Tyrone and
Darrell it has been used by African-American parents, usually stressed on the second syllable.
Tyree
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: TIE-ree(English)
From a Scottish surname, a variant of
McIntyre. It has been well-used as an African-American name, especially since the 1970s, probably inspired by other similar-sounding names such as
Tyrone.
Tudor 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Anglicized form of the medieval Welsh name
Tudur, possibly from a hypothetical Celtic name *
Toutorīxs meaning "ruler of the people" (
cognate with
Theodoric). As a surname it was borne by five monarchs of England beginning with Henry VII in the 15th century. These monarchs were descended from Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, a Welsh nobleman.
Tudor 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian
Pronounced: TOO-dor
Travis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRAV-is
From the English surname
Travis (a variant of
Travers). It was used in America in honour of William Travis (1809-1836), the commander of the Texan forces at the Battle of the Alamo.
Travers
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TRAV-ərz
Toros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Armenian
Other Scripts: Թորոս(Armenian)
Pronounced: taw-RAWS
Torny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian (Rare)
From the Old Norse name
Þórný, which was derived from the name of the Norse god
Þórr (see
Thor) combined with
nýr "new".
Tornike
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: თორნიკე(Georgian)
Pronounced: TAWR-NEE-KEH
Georgian form of Greek
Τορνίκιος (Tornikios) or
Τορνίκης (Tornikes), the name of a prominent Byzantine family that was of Armenian or Georgian descent. The family name may be derived from Armenian
թոռնիկ (tornik), a
diminutive of
թոռն (torn) meaning
"grandchild". Usage as a given name probably began in honour of the family, a notable member of which was a
saint.
Torfinn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
From the Old Norse name
Þórfinnr, derived from the name of the Norse god
Þórr (see
Thor) combined with
finnr "Sámi, person from Finland".
Tomoe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Pronounced: TO-MO-E
Means "earth" or "death" in Japanese.
Tomine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian
Tjaden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Low German
Pronounced: TYAH-den
Derived from the element thiad "people".
Tivadar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: TEE-vaw-dawr
Timur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Tatar, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkish, Russian, History
Other Scripts: Тимур(Tatar, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Russian) Төмөр(Mongolian Cyrillic)
Pronounced: tyi-MOOR(Russian) ti-MUWR(English)
From the Turkic and Mongol name
Temür meaning
"iron". This was the name of several Mongol, Turkic and Yuan leaders. A notable bearer was Timur, also known as
Tamerlane (from Persian
تیمور لنگ (Tīmūr e Lang) meaning "Timur the lame"), a 14th-century Turkic leader who conquered large areas of western Asia.
Thea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English
Pronounced: TEH-a(German) THEE-ə(English)
Tewodros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Amharic
Other Scripts: ቴዎድሮስ(Amharic)
Terrell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, African American
Pronounced: TEHR-əl(English) tə-REHL(English)
From an English surname that was probably derived from the Norman French nickname tirel "to pull", referring to a stubborn person. It may sometimes be given in honour of civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954). It was common in the African-American community from the 1970s to the 1990s, typically stressed on the second syllable. A famous bearer is American football player Terrell Owens (1973-).
Teodor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Czech, Polish, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Macedonian, Swedish, Norwegian
Other Scripts: Теодор(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: teh-O-dor(Romanian) TEH-aw-dawr(Slovak) TEH-o-dor(Czech, Croatian) teh-AW-dawr(Polish)
Form of
Theodore used in various languages.
Tawadros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Coptic (Arabized)
Other Scripts: تواضروس(Arabic)
Tasha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English
Other Scripts: Таша(Russian)
Pronounced: TAHSH-ə(English)
Taras
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Тарас(Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: tu-RAS(Russian)
Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian form of the Greek name
Ταράσιος (Tarasios), which possibly means
"from Taras". Taras was an Italian city, now called Taranto, which was founded by Greek colonists in the 8th century BC and was named for the Greek mythological figure Taras, a son of
Poseidon.
Saint Tarasios was an 8th-century bishop of Constantinople. It was also borne by the Ukrainian writer and artist Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861).
Tanaruz
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Berber, African
Tamsin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: TAM-zin
Contracted form of
Thomasina. It was traditionally used in Cornwall.
Tamar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: תָּמָר(Hebrew) თამარ(Georgian)
Pronounced: TA-MAR(Georgian) TAHM-ahr(English) TAY-mahr(English)
Means
"date palm" in Hebrew. According to the
Old Testament Tamar was the daughter-in-law of
Judah and later his wife. This was also the name of a daughter of King
David. She was raped by her half-brother
Amnon, leading to his murder by her brother
Absalom. The name was borne by a 12th-century ruling queen of Georgia who presided over the kingdom at the peak of its power.
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Sorrel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAWR-əl
From the name of the sour tasting plant, derived from Old French sur "sour", a word of Frankish origin.
Sommar
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Swedish (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SOM-ahr
Means "summer" in Swedish.
Sokol
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Albanian
Means "falcon" in Albanian, a word borrowed from Slavic.
Sindri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Old Norse [1], Icelandic
Means
"sparkle" in Old Norse. In Norse
mythology this was the name of a dwarf, also named Eitri. With his brother
Brokkr he made several magical items for the gods, including
Odin's ring Draupnir and
Thor's hammer Mjölnir.
Sindre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Sigourney
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: si-GAWR-nee
From an English surname that was derived from the French town of Sigournais, called Segurniacum in medieval Latin, itself of unknown meaning. The American actress Sigourney Weaver (1949-), real name Susan, adopted this name in 1963 after the minor character Sigourney Howard in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925).
Sigismund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: ZEE-gis-muwnt(German)
Form of
Sigmund in which the first element is
sigis, an extended form of
sigu.
Saint Sigismund was a 6th-century king of the Burgundians. This was also the name of kings of Poland and a ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.
Sieger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: SEE-ghər
Derived from the Old German elements
sigu "victory" and
heri "army".
Shylock
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: SHIE-lahk(English)
Used by Shakespeare, possibly from the Hebrew name
Shelach, for the primary antagonist in his play
The Merchant of Venice (1596). Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who demands a pound of Antonio's flesh when he cannot repay his loan. Subsequent to the play, the name has been used as an ethnic slur for a Jewish person and a slang term for a loan shark.
Shira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שִׁירָה(Hebrew)
Means "singing" in Hebrew.
Shelah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שֵׁלָה, שֵׁלָח(Ancient Hebrew)
This name is used in the English Bible to represent two unrelated Hebrew names:
שֵׁלָה (see
Shela) and
שֵׁלָח (see
Shelach).
Shanti
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Nepali
Other Scripts: शान्ती, शांती(Hindi) शांती(Marathi) शान्ती(Nepali)
From Sanskrit
शान्ती (śāntī) meaning
"quiet, peace, tranquility".
Sergen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Kurdish
Means "black" in Kurdish.
Serge
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SEHRZH
Sera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHR-ə
Saxo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse (Latinized)
Pronounced: SAK-so
Latinized form of
Saxi. Saxo Grammaticus was a medieval Danish chronicler.
Sava
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Serbian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Сава(Serbian, Bulgarian)
Serbian and Bulgarian form of
Sabas.
Sarina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, English (Modern)
Pronounced: sa-REE-na(Dutch)
Sango
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Means "coral" in Japanese. This name is used in the Japanese comic book and television show InuYasha.
Salomo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical German, Biblical Dutch
Salah 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שֵׁלָח(Ancient Hebrew)
Sabbas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek
Other Scripts: Σάββας(Ancient Greek)
Sabas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: SA-bas
From the Greek name
Σάββας (Sabbas), which was derived from Aramaic
סַבָא (sava) meaning
"old man, grandfather".
Saints bearing this name include a 4th-century Gothic martyr, a 5th-century Cappadocian hermit, and a 12th-century archbishop of Serbia who is the patron saint of that country.
Saba 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: საბა(Georgian)
Ryland
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIE-lənd
From an English surname, which was originally derived from a place name meaning "rye land" in Old English.
Rylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIE-lən
Possibly a variant of
Ryland, though it could also be an invented name inspired by other names like
Ryan and
Riley.
Rustan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish
Possibly a Swedification of the Persian name
Rostam, or a modern form of Old Norse
Hróðstæinn.
Russell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RUS-əl
From an English surname, of Norman origin, meaning
"little red one" (a
diminutive of Old French
rous "red"). A notable bearer of the surname was the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), who wrote on many subjects including logic, epistemology and mathematics. He was also a political activist for causes such as pacifism and women's rights.
This name was common throughout the English-speaking world for most of the 20th century, though in the 1960s it began a slow decline in most places.
Rosheen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Roseline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ROZ-LEEN
French form of
Rosalind.
Saint Roseline of Villeneuve was a 13th-century nun from Provence.
Rosaline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RO-zə-leen, RAHZ-ə-lin, RAHZ-ə-lien
Medieval variant of
Rosalind. This is the name of characters in Shakespeare's
Love's Labour's Lost (1594) and
Romeo and Juliet (1596).
Rosalind
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHZ-ə-lind
Derived from the Old German elements
hros meaning "horse" and
lind meaning "soft, flexible, tender". The
Normans introduced this name to England, though it was not common. During the Middle Ages its spelling was influenced by the Latin phrase
rosa linda "beautiful rose". The name was popularized by Edmund Spencer, who used it in his poetry, and by William Shakespeare, who used it for the heroine in his comedy
As You Like It (1599).
Rosaleen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Irish
Pronounced: RO-zə-leen(English) RAHZ-ə-lin(English) RAHZ-ə-lien(English)
Variant of
Rosaline. James Clarence Mangan used it as a translation for
Róisín in his poem
Dark Rosaleen (1846).
Rosabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rosabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RO-zə-behl
Combination of
Rosa 1 and the common name suffix
bel, inspired by Latin
bella "beautiful". This name was created in the 18th century.
Ronne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian
Rollant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French, Carolingian Cycle
Old French form of
Roland. This form is used in the oldest surviving text of
La Chanson de Roland.
Rolant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French, Carolingian Cycle
Rolandas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Lithuanian
Rolan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Ролан(Russian)
Roeland
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ROO-lahnt
Ripley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RIP-lee
From a surname that was derived from the name of various English towns, from Old English
rippel "grove, thicket" and
leah "clearing". A famous fictional bearer is the character Ellen Ripley (usually only called by her surname) from the
Alien series of movies, beginning 1979.
Ridley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RID-lee
From an English surname that was originally derived from various place names meaning either "reed clearing" or "channel clearing" in Old English.
Renault
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Transferred use of the French surname
Renault.
Renaud
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: RU-NO(French)
French form of
Reynold. This name was used in medieval French literature for the hero Renaud de Montauban, a young man who flees with his three brothers from the court of
Charlemagne after killing the king's nephew. Charlemagne pardons the brothers on the condition that they enter the Crusades. A loose version of the character also appears in medieval Italian extensions of the tales, in the Italian form
Rinaldo.
Rémy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: REH-MEE
French form of the Latin name
Remigius, which was derived from Latin
remigis "oarsman, rower".
Saint Rémy was a 5th-century bishop who converted and baptized Clovis, king of the Franks.
Rembert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic
Variant of
Raginbert. This name was borne by a 9th-century
saint, also called Rimbert, a bishop of Bremen and Hamburg.
Reinhard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: RIEN-hart(German)
Reinder
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian
Pronounced: RIEN-dər
Rangi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Maori, Polynesian Mythology
Means
"sky" in Maori. In Maori and other Polynesian
mythology Rangi or Ranginui was a god of the sky, husband of the earth goddess
Papa. They were locked in a crushing embrace but were eventually separated by their children, the other gods.
Ragna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Old Norse [1]
Short form of Old Norse names beginning with the element
regin "advice, counsel".
Prosper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: PRAWS-PEHR(French) PRAHS-pər(English)
From the Latin name
Prosperus, which meant
"fortunate, successful". This was the name of a 5th-century
saint, a supporter of Saint
Augustine. It has never been common as an English name, though the
Puritans used it, partly because it is identical to the English word
prosper.
Prokopy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Прокопий(Russian)
Pronounced: pru-KO-pyee
Prokopis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Προκόπης(Greek)
Prokop
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Czech
Pronounced: PRO-kop
Primrose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-roz
From the English word for the flower, ultimately deriving from Latin prima rosa "first rose".
Polyxena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Πολυξένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: pə-LIK-sin-ə(English)
Latinized form of Greek
Πολυξένη (Polyxene), which was from the word
πολύξενος (polyxenos) meaning
"entertaining many guests, very hospitable", itself derived from
πολύς (polys) meaning "many" and
ξένος (xenos) meaning "foreigner, guest". In Greek legend she was a daughter of
Priam and
Hecuba, beloved by
Achilles. After the Trojan War, Achilles' son
Neoptolemus sacrificed her.
Pihla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: PEEKH-lah
Derived from Finnish pihlaja meaning "rowan tree".
Pendragon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: pen-DRAG-ən, PEN-drag-ən
Transferred use of the surname
Pendragon.
The surname of Kings Arthur and Uther, meaning “head dragon” or “dragon’s head.” As first told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Uther adopted the symbol of the dragon because of the comet with the dragon’s head that Merlin had seen in Wales, heralding the death of King Ambrosius Aurelius, Uther’s brother. In Welsh legend, it is also the surname of one “Gwen Pendragon,” who once kept Arthur prisoner.
In the Prose and Vulgate Merlins, the name Pendragon is given to the character elsewhere called Ambrosius Aurelianus: the son of Constantine and Ivoire, the uncle of Arthur, and the king of Britain between Vortigern and Uther, Pendragon’s brother. Pendragon allied with Merlin, defeated Vortigern and Hengist, died fighting the Saxons, and was buried at Stonehenge. Uther is said to have adopted his brother’s name as a surname in memory of the slain king.
Source: Christopher Bruce's Arthurian Name Dictionary
Pendleton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pendekar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Malay
Other Scripts: ڤنديکر(Malay Jawi)
Pronounced: pən-deh-ka
Means "warrior" in Malay.
Pekka
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: PEHK-kah
Patrysia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Patris
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Provençal
Pascaline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: PAS-KA-LEEN
Oxana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Оксана(Ukrainian, Russian)
Alternate transcription of Ukrainian/Russian
Оксана (see
Oksana).
Owen 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: O-in(English)
Owain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: O-wien(Welsh)
From an Old Welsh name (
Ougein,
Eugein and other spellings), which was possibly from the Latin name
Eugenius. Other theories connect it to the Celtic roots *
owi- "sheep", *
wesu- "good" or *
awi- "desire" combined with the Old Welsh suffix
gen "born of". This is the name of several figures from British history, including Owain mab Urien, a 6th-century prince of Rheged who fought against the Angles. The 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes adapted him into
Yvain for his Arthurian romance
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. Regarded as one of the Knights of the Round Table, Yvain or Owain has since appeared in many other Arthurian tales, typically being the son of King
Urien of Gore, and the errant husband of
Laudine, the Lady of the Fountain.
Other notable bearers include Owain the Great, a 12th-century king of Gwynedd, and Owain Glyndwr, a 14th-century leader of the Welsh resistance to English rule.
Otylia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: aw-TI-lya
Otto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AW-to(German, Dutch) AHT-o(English) OT-to(Finnish)
Later German form of
Audo, originally a short form of various names beginning with Old Frankish
aud or Old High German
ot meaning
"wealth, fortune". This was the name of a 9th-century king of the West Franks (name usually spelled as
Odo). This was also the name of four kings of Germany, starting in the 10th century with Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor, known as Otto the Great.
Saint Otto of Bamberg was a 12th-century missionary to Pomerania. The name was also borne by a 19th-century king of Greece, originally from Bavaria. Another notable bearer was the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898).
Ottilie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: aw-TEE-lyə
Othello
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: o-THEHL-o(English)
Perhaps a
diminutive of
Otho. William Shakespeare used this name in his tragedy
Othello (1603), where it belongs to a Moor who is manipulated by
Iago into killing his wife
Desdemona.
Ossian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Variant of
Oisín used by James Macpherson in his 18th-century poems, which he claimed to have based on early Irish legends. In the poems Ossian is the son of
Fingal, and serves as the narrator.
Osman
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Kurdish, Albanian, Bosnian, Malay
Other Scripts: ئۆسمان(Kurdish Sorani)
Pronounced: os-MAN(Turkish)
Turkish, Kurdish, Albanian, Bosnian and Malay form of
Uthman. This was the name of the founder of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century. It was later borne by two more Ottoman sultans.
Oskari
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: OS-kah-ree
Oskar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Slovene, Basque
Pronounced: AWS-kar(German, Swedish, Polish) OS-kar(Basque)
Form of
Oscar in several languages. A famous bearer was Oskar Schindler (1908-1974), who is credited for saved over 1,000 Polish Jews during World War II.
Osheen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Anglicized form of
Oisín.
Osgar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon [1][2]
Derived from the Old English elements
os "god" and
gar "spear". It is a
cognate of
Ansgar.
Osbert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AHZ-bərt
Derived from the Old English elements
os "god" and
beorht "bright". After the
Norman Conquest, this Old English name was merged with its Norman
cognate. It was rare in the Middle Ages, and eventually died out. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
Origen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Other Scripts: Ὠριγένης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AWR-i-jən(English)
From the Greek name
Ὠριγένης (Origenes), which was possibly derived from the name of the Egyptian god
Horus combined with
γενής (genes) meaning "born". Origen was a 3rd-century theologian from Alexandria. Long after his death some of his writings were declared heretical, hence he is not regarded as a
saint.
Orhan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Derived from Turkish or, of uncertain meaning, possibly from a Turkic root meaning "place", and han meaning "khan, ruler, leader". This was the name of a 14th-century sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Olivier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Dutch, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: AW-LEE-VYEH(French) O-lee-veer(Dutch)
French and Dutch form of
Oliver. This is also a French word meaning "olive tree".
Olivette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: ahl-i-VEHT(English)
Feminine form of
Oliver. This was the name of the title character in the French opera
Les noces d'Olivette (1879) by Edmond Audran.
Olivera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Оливера(Serbian, Macedonian)
Oliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Catalan, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Carolingian Cycle
Other Scripts: Оливер(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AHL-i-vər(English) O-lee-vu(German) O-lee-vehr(Finnish) oo-lee-BEH(Catalan) O-li-vehr(Czech) AW-lee-vehr(Slovak)
From Old French
Olivier, which was possibly derived from Latin
oliva "olive tree" [1]. Alternatively there could be an underlying Germanic name, such as Old Norse
Áleifr (see
Olaf) or Frankish
Alawar (see
Álvaro), with the spelling altered by association with the Latin word. In the Middle Ages the name became well-known in Western Europe because of the French epic
La Chanson de Roland, in which Olivier is a friend and advisor to the hero
Roland.
In England Oliver was a common medieval name, however it became rare after the 17th century because of the military commander Oliver Cromwell, who ruled the country following the civil war. The name was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due in part to the title character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838), about a poor orphan living on the streets of London. It became very popular at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top rank for boys in England and Wales in 2009 and entering the top ten in the United States in 2017.
Olis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: O-lis
Probably an Ukrainian short form of
AlexanderThe name occurs in the folklike song Schöne Minka by Christoph August Tiedge where it is bourne by a cossack.
Olindo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Italian
Used by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso for the lover of
Sophronia in his epic poem
Jerusalem Delivered (1580). It might be a variant of
Olinto, the Italian form of the ancient Greek city
Ὄλυνθος (Olynthos) meaning
"wild fig".
Olia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Georgian, Moldovan (Rare), Bulgarian, Russian (Rare), Ukrainian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Оля(Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian) ოლია(Georgian)
Georgian and Moldovan form of
Olya as well as a Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian variant transcription of the name.
This name has developed into an independent name in Georgia.
Olavi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: O-lah-vee(Finnish)
Finnish and Estonian form of
Olaf.
Olaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Scandinavian, Swedish, Norwegian (Rare), Finnish (Rare, Archaic), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: oo-LAH-uys(Swedish) AW-lows(Finnish)
Oksana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Оксана(Ukrainian, Russian)
Pronounced: uk-SA-nə(Russian)
Ogier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: AW-ZHYEH(French)
French form of
Audagar. In
La Chanson de Roland and other medieval French romances, this is the name of one of
Charlemagne's knights. He is said to be from Denmark, and is sometimes called
Holger.
Odilon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Odette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AW-DEHT
French
diminutive of
Oda or
Odilia. This is the name of a princess who has been transformed into a swan in the ballet
Swan Lake (1877) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Odetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Odeta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian
Novella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: no-VEHL-la
Derived from Latin
novellus meaning
"new, young, novel", a
diminutive of
novus "new". This name was borne by the 14th-century Italian scholar Novella d'Andrea, who taught law at the University of Bologna.
Noll
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Nils
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: NILS
Niko
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish, Croatian, Slovene, Georgian, German
Other Scripts: ნიკო(Georgian)
Pronounced: NEE-ko(Finnish)
Finnish form of
Nicholas, as well as a Croatian, Slovene, Georgian and German short form.
Niklas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, German
Pronounced: NIK-las(Swedish) NEEK-lahs(Finnish) NI-klas(German)
Nerses
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Armenian
Other Scripts: Ներսէս(Armenian)
Armenian form of Middle Persian
Narseh (see
Narses).
Saint Nerses was a 4th-century patriarch of the Armenian Church.
Nerissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: nə-RIS-ə(English)
Created by Shakespeare for a character in his play
The Merchant of Venice (1596). He possibly took it from Greek
Νηρηΐς (Nereis) meaning "nymph, sea sprite", ultimately derived from the name of the Greek sea god
Nereus, who supposedly fathered them.
Nepomuk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Czech, Dutch (Rare), German
Pronounced: NEH-po-mook(Czech) NE-po-mook(German)
When this given name first came into use, it was usually given in honour of the medieval saint John of Nepomuk (c. 1345-1393). He was born and raised in the town of Pomuk, which is what Nepomuk refers to. The town was located in what was once Bohemia, but is now located (under the name Nepomuk) in the Plzeň region in the Czech Republic.
Some sources claim that Nepomuk literally means "from Pomuk" or "born in Pomuk" in Czech, but this is probably incorrect, as "from" is z in Czech and "born" is narozený in Czech. Instead, Nepomuk probably literally means "not Pomuk" in Czech, derived from ne meaning "not" or "no" and Pomuk meaning "Pomuk". This unusual meaning is said to originate from the early history of the town, which is as follows: in the beginning, there were two towns in the area, namely Pomuk and Přesanice. Both were located in the near vicinity of the one Cistercian Monastery in the area. Apparently, the two towns were often confused with each other, because at some point, the need arose for people to differentiate the two towns from each other. People informally started calling Přesanice ne Pomuk meaning "not Pomuk", which set it apart from the town of Pomuk in no uncertain terms. Eventually, in 1413, the two towns and the monastery were merged into one town, which was henceforth known under the name Nepomuk.
This early history surrounding the town of Pomuk is plausible by itself, but it seems a bit problematic when you try to relate it to saint John of Nepomuk. After all, he was born long before the merge of the two towns and the monastery. In his day, Pomuk was still a separate and independent town. In addition to that, Nepomuk was the nickname given to Přesanice at the time - it was never a nickname for Pomuk itself. As such, it does not make sense for a Pomuk native such as the saint to refer to themselves as "Nepomuk". The only way in which it would make sense for the saint to refer to himself as such, would be if he was actually born and raised in Přesanice instead of in Pomuk.
All in all, there is some uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding the etymology of Nepomuk. The only thing that we can truly say for certain, is that the name is of Czech (and therefore Slavic) origin.
Finally, a well-known bearer of this name was Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a 19th-century Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist.
Natasha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Belarusian, English
Other Scripts: Наташа(Russian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: nu-TA-shə(Russian) nə-TAHSH-ə(English)
Russian
diminutive of
Natalya. This is the name of a character in Leo Tolstoy's novel
War and Peace (1865). It has been used in the English-speaking world only since the 20th century.
Narelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Meaning unknown. It was borne by the wife of Umbarra, who was a 19th-century leader of the Yuin, an Australian Aboriginal people.
Napier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From an English and Scots surname meaning "linen keeper" in Middle English, from Old French nappe "table cloth".
Murron
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Used in the 1995 movie
Braveheart for William Wallace's wife, who is murdered early in the film. In reality, Wallace may have been married to a woman named
Marion.
Morticia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: mawr-TISH-ə(English)
From the American English word mortician meaning "undertaker, funeral director", ultimately derived from Latin mortis meaning "death". This name was created for the mother on the Addams Family television series (1964-1966). She was based on an unnamed recurring character in cartoons by Charles Addams, starting 1938.
Moritz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: MO-rits
Moreen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: maw-REEN(English) MAWR-een(English)
Anglicized form of
Móirín. It is sometimes used as a variant of
Maureen.
Mór 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian (Archaic)
Pronounced: MOR
Mohandas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: मोहनदास(Hindi)
Means
"servant of Mohana" from the name of the Hindu god
Mohana (an epithet of
Krishna) combined with Sanskrit
दास (dāsa) meaning "servant". A famous bearer of this name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), also known as Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian leader who struggled peacefully for independence from Britain.
Millicent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIL-i-sənt
From the Gothic name *
Amalaswinþa, composed of the elements
amals "unceasing, vigorous, brave" and
swinþs "strong". Amalaswintha was a 6th-century queen of the Ostrogoths. The
Normans introduced this name to England in the form
Melisent or
Melisende. Melisende was a 12th-century queen of Jerusalem, the daughter of Baldwin II.
Mikail
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Meyer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: מֵאִיר(Hebrew)
Alternate transcription of Hebrew
מֵאִיר (see
Meir). It also coincides with a German surname meaning "mayor, leader".
Mesmin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical), French (Rare)
French variant of
Maximin. Saint Mesmin (died c. 520 AD) is a French saint associated with the Bishopric of Orléans. He was the second abbot of Micy Abbey, founded by his uncle, Saint Euspicius.
Merritt
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHR-it
From an English surname, originally from a place name, which meant "boundary gate" in Old English.
Merit 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEHR-it
Either a variant of
Merritt or else simply from the English word
merit, ultimately from Latin
meritus "deserving".
Merida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
The name of the main character in the Disney/Pixar movie
Brave (2012) about a medieval Scottish princess. The meaning of her name is unexplained, though it could be based on the Spanish city of Mérida, derived from Latin
Emerita Augusta meaning "veterans of
Augustus", so named because it was founded by the emperor Augustus as a colony for his veterans.
Melisende
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval French
Mélisande
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
French form of
Millicent used by Maurice Maeterlinck in his play
Pelléas et Mélisande (1893). The play was later adapted by Claude Debussy into an opera (1902).
Melicent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Meira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: מֵאִירָה(Hebrew)
Maxine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mak-SEEN
Feminine form of
Max. It has been commonly used only since the beginning of the 20th century.
Maryse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MA-REEZ
Martel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Pronounced: ma:-TEL
Transferred use of the French surname
Martelle.
Markéta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech
Pronounced: MAR-keh-ta
Marianne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: MA-RYAN(French) mar-ee-AN(English) ma-RYA-nə(German) ma-ree-YAH-nə(Dutch) MAH-ree-ahn-neh(Finnish)
Combination of
Marie and
Anne 1, though it could also be considered a variant of
Mariana or
Mariamne. Shortly after the formation of the French Republic in 1792, a female figure by this name was adopted as the symbol of the state.
Manton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish
Pronounced: MAN-tən
Manton is derived from various place names throughout England. In Ireland Manton is the anglicized form of the Gaelic "Ó Manntáin", or "descendant of Manntán", a personal name derived from a diminutive of "manntach" ("toothless").
Manon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch
Pronounced: MA-NAWN(French) ma-NAWN(Dutch)
Malka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: מַלְכָּה(Hebrew)
Means "queen" in Hebrew.
Mabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-bəl
Medieval feminine form of
Amabilis. This spelling and
Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge's 1854 novel
The Heir of Redclyffe [1], which featured a character named Mabel (as well as one named Amabel).
Lyonesse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Means
"lioness" in Middle English. In Thomas Malory's 15th-century tale
Le Morte d'Arthur this is the name of a woman trapped in a castle by the Red Knight. Her sister
Lynet gains the help of the knight
Gareth in order to save her.
Lynet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Form of
Lunete used in Thomas Malory's 15th-century tale
Le Morte d'Arthur, where it is borne by a woman who enlists the help of Sir
Gareth to rescue her sister
Lyonesse. She eventually marries his brother
Gaheris.
Lucan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
From the Roman
cognomen Lucanus, which was derived from the name of the city of Luca in Tuscany (modern Lucca). Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, commonly called Lucan, was a 1st-century Roman poet.
Loup
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LOO
French form of the Roman name
Lupus meaning
"wolf". Lupus was the name of several early
saints, including a 5th-century bishop of Troyes who apparently convinced
Attila to spare the city.
Loránd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: LO-rand
Lopo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese (Rare)
Portuguese form of
Lupus (see
Loup).
Loffredo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Italian
Apparently either a variant or a corrupted form of
Goffredo.
Liselotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Dutch, German
Pronounced: LEE-zeh-law-tə(German)
Liora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: לִיאוֹרָה(Hebrew)
Strictly feminine form of
Lior.
Linnéa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: lin-NEH-a
From the name of a flower, also known as the twinflower. The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus named it after himself, it being his favourite flower.
Linnea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: lin-NEH-a(Swedish) LEEN-neh-ah(Finnish)
Linnaea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: li-NAY-ə, li-NEE-ə
From the word for the type of flower, also called the twinflower (see
Linnéa).
Linette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: li-NEHT(English)
Liberalis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Derived from Latin liber "free". Used by a few saints.
Libéral
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical), French (Rare, Archaic)
Liba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Other Scripts: ליבאַ(Yiddish) ליבּה(Hebrew)
From Yiddish
ליבע (libe) meaning
"love".
Liam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English, French (Modern), Dutch (Modern), German (Modern), Swedish (Modern), Norwegian (Modern)
Pronounced: LYEEM(Irish) LEE-əm(English) LYAM(French) LEE-yahm(Dutch)
Irish short form of
William. It became popular in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, and elsewhere in Europe and the Americas after that. It was the top ranked name for boys in the United States beginning in 2017. Famous bearers include British actor Liam Neeson (1952-), British musician Liam Gallagher (1972-), and Australian actor Liam Hemsworth (1990-).
Levente
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: LEH-vehn-teh
Old Hungarian name, possibly of Slavic origin, or possibly from Hungarian lesz "will be". This name was used by the Árpád royal family since at least the 10th century.
Levent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: leh-VENT
From the Ottoman Turkish term levend, referring to a member of the navy, which is possibly ultimately derived from Italian levante "person from the eastern Mediterranean". The Turkish word has now come to mean "tall, handsome, roguish".
Léonne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Léonide
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: LEH-AW-NEED
French masculine and feminine form of
Leonidas.
Leonid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Леонид(Russian) Леонід(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: lyi-u-NYEET(Russian)
Léon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LEH-AWN
French form of
Leon (used to refer to the popes named
Leo).
Lennart
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Low German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEH-nahrt(Low German, Dutch)
Swedish and Low German form of
Leonard.
Lemuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Mormon, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: לְמוּאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEHM-yoo-əl(English)
Means
"for God" in Hebrew, from the proposition
לְמוֹ (lemo) combined with
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the name of a king briefly mentioned in Proverbs in the
Old Testament. In the Book of Mormon it is the name of a rebellious son of
Lehi and
Sariah. It is also borne by the hero of Jonathan Swift's novel
Gulliver's Travels (1726).
Leir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
The name of an early king of the Britons, according to the 12th-century chronicles
[1] of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Leir's name may be connected to the city where he reigned, Leicester (named
Kaerleir by Geoffrey). Alternatively it might be derived from the name of the legendary Welsh figure
Llŷr. The story of Leir and his daughters was later adapted by Shakespeare for his play
King Lear (1606).
Leary
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Pronounced: LEE-ree(English)
Lear
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: LEER(English)
Form of
Leir used by Shakespeare for the title character of his tragic play
King Lear (1606).
Léandre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Leander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λέανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: lee-AN-dər(English)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Λέανδρος (Leandros), derived from
λέων (leon) meaning "lion" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek legend Leander was the lover of Hero. Every night he swam across the Hellespont to meet her, but on one occasion he was drowned when a storm arose. When Hero saw his dead body she threw herself into the waters and perished.
Laverne
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-VURN
From a French surname that was derived from a place name, ultimately from the Gaulish word
vern "alder". It is sometimes associated with the Roman goddess
Laverna or the Latin word
vernus "of spring".
Laverna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: la-WEHR-na(Latin)
Meaning unknown. Laverna was the Roman goddess of thieves and thievery.
Launo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish (Rare)
Lasse
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: LA-sə(Danish) LAHS-seh(Finnish)
Lanzo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Old German form of
Lance.
Landry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
French form of
Landric. This name was borne by a few French
saints, including a 5th-century bishop of Sées and a 7th-century bishop of Paris.
Lambert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, French, English, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: LAM-behrt(German) LAHM-bərt(Dutch) LAHN-BEHR(French) LAM-bərt(English)
Derived from the Old German elements
lant "land" and
beraht "bright".
Saint Lambert of Maastricht was a 7th-century bishop who was martyred after denouncing Pepin II for adultery. The name was also borne by a 9th-century king of Italy who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
Kristofor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian (Rare), Albanian
Kristofer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish
Kristina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Russian, German, Slovene, Czech, Lithuanian, Serbian, Croatian, Albanian, Faroese, English, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Кристина(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: kris-TEE-na(Swedish, German) KRIS-ti-na(Czech) kryis-tyi-NU(Lithuanian) kris-TEE-nə(English)
Kristin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, German, Estonian, English
Pronounced: kris-TEEN(Swedish, German) KRIS-tin(English)
Kristen 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRIS-tin
Krista
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian
Pronounced: KRIS-ta(German) KRIS-tə(English) KREES-tah(Finnish)
Korbinian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: kawr-BEE-nee-an
Derived from Latin
corvus meaning
"raven". This was the name of an 8th-century Frankish
saint who was sent by Pope Gregory II to evangelize in Bavaria. His real name may have been
Hraban.
Konstantin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, German, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Константин(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: kən-stun-TYEEN(Russian) KAWN-stan-teen(German) KON-stahn-teen(Finnish) KON-shtawn-teen(Hungarian)
Koert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: KOORT
Klaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: KLOWS(German, Finnish)
German short form of
Nicholas, now used independently.
Kjartan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Faroese, Swedish (Rare)
Pronounced: KYAR-tan(Icelandic) KHAHR-tan(Norwegian) CHAR-tan(Faroese)
Kirsten
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Norwegian, English
Pronounced: KEEWS-dən(Danish) KHISH-tən(Norwegian) KUR-stən(English) KIR-stən(English)
Kimmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Meaning unknown. It was popularized by Eino Leino's poem Kimmo's Revenge (1902).
Kiernan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern), Irish
Pronounced: KEER-nən
Transferred use of the surname
Kiernan.
Kestrel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KEHS-trəl
From the name of the bird of prey, ultimately derived from Old French crecelle "rattle", which refers to the sound of its cry.
Kerstin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, German
Pronounced: SHASH-tin(Swedish) KEHR-steen(German)
Kentigern
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical)
From a Brythonic name in which the second element is Celtic *
tigernos "lord, ruler". The first element may be *
kentus "first" or *
kū "dog, hound" (genitive *
kunos). This was the name of a 6th-century
saint from the Kingdom of Strathclyde. He is the patron saint of Glasgow.
Kent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KENT
From a surname that was originally derived from Kent, the name of a county in England, which may be derived from a Brythonic word meaning "coastal district".
Kenrick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KEHN-rik
Kenelm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KEHN-əlm
From the Old English name
Cenhelm, which was composed of the elements
cene "bold, keen" and
helm "helmet".
Saint Kenelm was a 9th-century martyr from Mercia, where he was a member of the royal family. The name was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, but has since become rare.
Keijo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Derived from Finnish keiju meaning "elf, fairy".
Kauko
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: KOW-ko
Means "far away" in Finnish.
Kasper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: KAHS-pər(Dutch) KAS-bu(Danish) KAHS-pehr(Swedish)
Dutch and Scandinavian form of
Jasper.
Karlmann
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Archaic)
Pronounced: KARL-man
Kari 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: KAH-ree
Form of
Macarius (see
Macario) used by the Finnish author Juhani Aho in his novel
Panu (1897).
Kane
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAYN
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Catháin, derived from the given name
Cathán.
Kalle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: KAL-leh(Swedish) KAHL-leh(Finnish, Estonian)
Swedish
diminutive of
Karl. It is used in Finland and Estonia as a full name.
Juhani
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: YOO-hah-nee
Finnish form of
Iohannes (see
John).
Jens
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic
Pronounced: YEHNS(Danish) YENS(Swedish)
Jelena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Estonian, Lithuanian
Other Scripts: Јелена(Serbian)
Form of
Yelena in several languages. In Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia it is also associated with the South Slavic words
jelen meaning "deer, stag" and
jela meaning "fir tree".
Jarle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Pronounced: YAHR-lə
Jareth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: JAR-əth(English)
Invented name, probably inspired by names such as
Jared and
Gareth. This is the name of the Goblin King, played by David Bowie, in the movie
Labyrinth (1986).
Ives
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical)
English form of
Yves, used to refer to
Saint Ives (also called Ivo) of Huntingdonshire, a semi-legendary English bishop.
István
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: EESHT-van
Hungarian form of
Stephen. This was the name of the first king of Hungary. Ruling in the 11th century, he encouraged the spread of Christianity among his subjects and is considered the patron
saint of Hungary.
Iskinder
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Amharic
Iskander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Isak
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: EE-sak
Scandinavian form of
Isaac.
Isabeau
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval French, French (Rare), Dutch (Modern)
Medieval French variant of
Isabel. A famous bearer of this name was Isabeau of Bavaria (1385-1422), wife of the French king Charles VI.
Irnerius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Probably from
Wernerius, a Latinized form of the Germanic name
Werner. This was the name of a 12th-century Italian scholar and jurist. He sometimes wrote his name as
Wernerius.
Irfan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian
Other Scripts: عرفان(Arabic, Urdu)
Pronounced: ‘eer-FAN(Arabic)
Means "knowledge, awareness, learning" in Arabic.
Iorwerth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Old Welsh
Means
"worthy lord" from Old Welsh
ior "lord" and
gwerth "value, worth". This name was used by medieval Welsh royalty, including the prince Iorwerth Goch of Powys, who is mentioned in the tale the
Dream of Rhonabwy. It has sometimes been Anglicized as
Edward.
Into
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: EEN-to
Means "enthusiasm" in Finnish.
Ingram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1][2][3], English (Rare)
Pronounced: ING-grəm(English)
Germanic name composed of either the element
angil, from the name of the Germanic tribe of the Angles, or
engil meaning "angel" combined with
hram meaning "raven". This name was brought to England by the
Normans, though it died out after the medieval era. These days it is usually inspired by the surname that was derived from the medieval name.
Inbar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: עִןְבָּר, עִיןְבָּר(Hebrew)
Means "amber" in Hebrew.
Imre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: EEM-reh
Hungarian form of
Emmerich. This was the name of an 11th-century Hungarian
saint, the son of Saint Istvan. He is also known as Emeric.
Ilonka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, Czech
Pronounced: EE-long-kaw(Hungarian) I-long-ka(Czech)
Ilona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, German, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech
Pronounced: EE-lo-naw(Hungarian) ee-LO-na(German) EE-lo-na(German) EE-lo-nah(Finnish) ee-LAW-na(Polish) I-lo-na(Czech)
Old Hungarian form of
Helen, possibly via a Slavic form. In Finland it is associated with the word
ilona, a derivative of
ilo "joy".
Ilka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, German
Pronounced: EEL-kaw(Hungarian)
Ilia
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian, Russian, Bulgarian, Belarusian, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: ილია(Georgian) Илья(Russian) Илия(Bulgarian) Ілья(Belarusian) Илїа(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: EE-LEE-AH(Georgian) i-LYA(Russian)
Georgian form of
Elijah. It is also an alternate transcription of Russian
Илья or Belarusian
Ілья (see
Ilya) or Bulgarian
Илия (see
Iliya).
Ilana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אִילָנָה(Hebrew)
Ilan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אִילָן(Hebrew)
Means "tree" in Hebrew.
Idris 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Malay, Indonesian
Other Scripts: إدريس(Arabic)
Pronounced: eed-REES(Arabic) EE-drees(Malay, Indonesian)
Possibly means
"interpreter, teacher" in Arabic, related to the root
درس (darasa) meaning "to study, to learn". According to the
Quran this was the name of an ancient prophet. He is traditionally equated with the Hebrew prophet
Enoch.
Iago
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Galician, Portuguese
Pronounced: YA-gaw(Welsh) ee-AH-go(English) YA-ghuw(Galician)
Welsh and Galician form of
Iacobus (see
James). This was the name of two early Welsh kings of Gwynedd. It is also the name of the villain in Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603).
Huldrych
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Swiss)
Remodelled form of
Ulrich to be read as
huld-reich "rich of grace, rich of favour".
This name was borne by the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli.
Holger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: HAWL-gu(German)
From the Old Norse name
Hólmgeirr, derived from the elements
holmr "small island" and
geirr "spear". In Scandinavia and Germany this is the usual name for the hero
Ogier the Dane from medieval French romance.
Holden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HOL-dən
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "deep valley" in Old English. This is the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Holden Caulfield.
Hjalmar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: YAL-mar(Swedish)
From the Old Norse name
Hjálmarr meaning
"helmeted warrior" from the element
hjalmr "helmet" combined with
herr "army, warrior".
Hildred
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HIL-drid
Possibly from the Old English masculine name
Hildræd, which was composed of the elements
hild "battle" and
ræd "counsel, advice". This name was revived in the late 19th century, probably because of its similarity to the popular names
Hilda and
Mildred.
Hermann
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: HEHR-man
German form of
Herman. A famous bearer was the German author Hermann Hesse (1877-1962).
Henri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Finnish
Pronounced: AHN-REE(French) HEHN-ree(Finnish)
French form of
Heinrich (see
Henry). A notable bearer was the French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954).
Helmuth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: HEHL-moot
Helmut
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HEHL-moot(German)
Derived from the Old German element
helm "helmet" (or perhaps
heil "healthy, whole") combined with
muot "mind, spirit".
Heimdall
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
From Old Norse
Heimdallr, derived from Old Norse
heimr "home, house" and
dallr, possibly meaning "glowing, shining". In Norse
mythology he is the god who guards the Bifröst, the bridge that connects Asgard to the other worlds. It is foretold that he will blow the Gjallarhorn to wake the gods for the final battle at the end of the world, Ragnarök. During this battle, he will fight
Loki and they will slay one another.
Havelok
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Medieval English
Transferred use of the surname
Havelok. This name is also the source of the English surname
Havelock.
Havel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Czech (Rare), Slovak (Rare)
Pronounced: HA-vehl(Czech)
Czech and Slovak form of
Gallus.
Hartwin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HART-veen(German)
Means
"brave friend" from the Old German elements
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy" and
wini "friend".
Hartmut
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HART-moot(German)
Means
"brave mind", derived from the Old German elements
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy" and
muot "mind, spirit". This is the kidnapper of
Gudrun in the medieval German epic
Kudrun.
Hartmann
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare)
Pronounced: HART-man
Means
"brave man", derived from the Old German element
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy" combined with
man.
Harlan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-lən
From a surname that was from a place name meaning "hare land" in Old English. In America it has sometimes been given in honour of Supreme Court justice John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911).
Hannes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Dutch, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: HA-nəs(German) HAN-nehs(Swedish) HAH-nəs(Dutch) HAHN-nehs(Finnish)
Hannelore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: HA-nə-lo-rə
Hannele
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: HAHN-neh-leh
Haidar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: حيدر(Arabic)
Pronounced: HIE-dar
Means
"lion, warrior" in Arabic. This is a title of
Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Hagar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical German, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: הָגָר(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: HAY-gahr(English)
Possibly means
"flight" in Hebrew, though it could also be of unknown Egyptian origin. According to the
Old Testament she was the second wife of
Abraham and the mother of
Ishmael, the founder of the Arab people. After Abraham's first wife
Sarah finally gave birth to a child, she had Hagar and Ishmael expelled into the desert. However, God heard their crying and saved them.
Hadrian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: HAY-dree-ən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Hadrianus, which meant
"from Hadria" in Latin. Hadria was the name of two Roman settlements. The first (modern Adria) is in northern Italy and was an important Etruscan port town. The second (modern Atri) is in central Italy and was named after the northern town. The Adriatic Sea is also named after the northern town.
A famous bearer of the name was Publius Aelius Hadrianus, better known as Hadrian, a 2nd-century Roman emperor who built a wall across northern Britain. His family came from the town of Atri in central Italy.
Gyula
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: GYOO-law
From a Hungarian royal title, which was probably of Turkic origin. This name is also used as a Hungarian form of
Julius.
Guntram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: GUWN-tram
Means
"war raven" from the Old German elements
gunda "war" and
hram "raven". This was the name of a 6th-century Frankish king, sometimes called Gontrand, who is considered a
saint.
Gudmund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish
From the Old Norse name
Guðmundr, which was derived from the elements
guð "god" and
mundr "protection".
Golda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Other Scripts: גאָלדאַ, גאָלדע(Yiddish) גּוֹלְדָּה(Hebrew)
From Yiddish
גאָלד (gold) meaning
"gold". This is the name of Tevye's wife in the musical
Fiddler on the Roof (1964). It was also borne by the Israeli prime minister Golda Meir (1898-1978).
Godiva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon (Latinized)
Pronounced: gə-DIE-və(English)
Latinized form of the Old English name
Godgifu meaning
"gift of god", from the elements
god and
giefu "gift". Lady Godiva was an 11th-century English noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry to protest the high taxes imposed by her husband upon the townspeople.
Gloriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: glawr-ee-AN-ə
Elaborated form of Latin gloria meaning "glory". In Edmund Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene (1590) this was the name of the title character, a representation of Queen Elizabeth I.
Gleb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Глеб(Russian)
Pronounced: GLYEHP
Russian form of the Old Norse name
Guðleifr, which was derived from the elements
guð "god" and
leif "inheritance, legacy". This was the name of an 11th-century
saint, a member of the ruling family of Kievan Rus. Along with his brother
Boris he was killed in the power struggles that followed the death of his father
Vladimir the Great, and he is regarded as a martyr.
Gillian
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIL-ee-ən, GIL-ee-ən
Medieval English feminine form of
Julian. This spelling has been in use since the 13th century, though it was not declared a distinct name from
Julian until the 17th century
[1].
Ghislain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHEES-LEHN, GEE-LEHN
French form of
Gislenus, a Latinized form of the Germanic name
Gislin, derived from the element
gisal meaning
"hostage" or
"pledge". This was the name of a 7th-century
saint and hermit who built a chapel near Mons, Belgium.
Gerda 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: GEHR-da(German) GHEHR-da(Dutch)
Gerda 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: YA-da(Swedish)
Gebhard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: GEHP-hart(German)
Derived from the Old German element
geba "gift" combined with
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy".
Saint Gebhard was a 10th-century bishop of Constance.
Gauvain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: GO-VEHN(French)
French form of
Gawain used in the works of Chrétien de Troyes.
Gautama
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Sanskrit, Buddhism
Other Scripts: गौतम(Sanskrit)
Pronounced: GOW-tu-mu(Sanskrit)
In the case of Siddhartha Gautama, it was a patronymic form of
Gotama.
Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the
Buddha, was the founder of Buddhism. He was a 6th-century BC nobleman who left his family in order to lead a life of meditation and poverty.
Gaubert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Rare)
Garnier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French
Medieval French form of
Werner.
Gareth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English (British), Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: GAR-əth(British English)
Meaning uncertain. It appears in this form in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian legends
Le Morte d'Arthur, in which the knight Gareth (also named
Beaumains) is a brother of
Gawain. He goes with
Lynet to rescue her sister
Lyonesse from the Red Knight. Malory based the name on
Gaheriet or
Guerrehet, which was the name of a similar character in French sources. It may ultimately have a Welsh origin, possibly from the name
Gwrhyd meaning
"valour" (found in the tale
Culhwch and Olwen) or
Gwairydd meaning
"hay lord" (found in the chronicle
Brut y Brenhinedd).
Ganelon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Carolingian Cycle
French form of the Old German name
Wenilo. In the medieval French epic
La Chanson de Roland Ganelon is the knight who betrays
Charlemagne's army to the Saracens, resulting in the death of
Roland and the rest of the rear guard. He was based on Wenilo, a 9th-century archbishop of Sens who betrayed Charles the Bald (Charlemagne's grandson).
Galaktion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek, Georgian
Other Scripts: Γαλακτίων(Ancient Greek) გალაქტიონ(Georgian)
Probably a derivative of Greek
γάλα (gala) meaning
"milk" (genitive
γάλακτος). This was the name of a 3rd-century
saint (also called
Galation) who was martyred in Emesa, Syria. It was also borne by the Georgian poet Galaktion Tabidze (1892-1959).
Fyodor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Фёдор(Russian)
Pronounced: FYUY-dər
Russian form of
Theodore. It was borne by three tsars of Russia. Another notable bearer was Fyodor Dostoyevsky (or Dostoevsky; 1821-1881), the Russian author of such works as
Crime and Punishment and
The Brothers Karamazov.
Fritz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FRITS
Friedemann
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FREE-də-man
Means
"man of peace" from the Old German elements
fridu "peace" and
man "person, man".
Fressenda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Franziska
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: fran-TSIS-ka
German feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Florimond
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, French
Pronounced: FLAW-REE-MAWN(French)
Possibly from Latin
florens meaning "prosperous, flourishing" combined with the Old German element
munt meaning "protection". This is the name of the prince in some versions of the fairy tale
Sleeping Beauty.
Florian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, French, Romanian, Polish, History
Pronounced: FLO-ree-an(German) FLAW-RYAHN(French) FLAW-ryan(Polish)
From the Roman
cognomen Florianus, a derivative of
Florus. This was the name of a short-lived Roman emperor of the 3rd century, Marcus Annius Florianus. It was also borne by
Saint Florian, a martyr of the 3rd century, the patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria.
Florent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: FLAW-RAHN
French masculine form of
Florentius (see
Florence).
Florea
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian
Pronounced: FLO-rya
Fleurdelys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: FLUUR-DU-LEES
From the name of the common heraldic charge in the shape of a lily, particularly associated with the French monarchy. It is derived from French fleur de lis meaning "lily flower".
Flemming
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish
Pronounced: FLEHM-ming
From a medieval Norse nickname meaning "from Flanders".
Flavien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: FLA-VYEHN
Flavian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical)
From the Roman family name
Flavianus, which was derived from
Flavius. This was the name of several early
saints including a 5th-century patriarch of Constantinople who was beaten to death.
Fitzwilliam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
From an English surname meaning
"son of William", formed using the Anglo-Norman French prefix
fitz-, derived from Latin
filius "son". This is the given name of Mr. Darcy, a character in Jane Austen's novel
Pride and Prejudice (1813).
Fitzroy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FITS-roi
From an English surname meaning "son of the king" in Old French, originally given to illegitimate sons of monarchs.
Fitzgerald
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare), Haitian Creole
Transferred use of the surname
Fitzgerald. This was the middle name of President John F. Kennedy.
Fitz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FITS
Short form of various given names that are derived from surnames beginning with Norman French
fitz meaning
"son of" (for example
Fitzroy).
Fiorimonde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
A feminine form of
Florimond. This was used by English writer Mary de Morgan for a wicked young princess in her fairy tale 'The Necklace of Princess Fiorimonde' (1880).
Fioravante
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian (Rare), Medieval Italian, Literature, Carolingian Cycle
Meaning uncertain, perhaps from
Floriven, the Old Occitan form of
Floovant. This was the name of the eldest son of the king of France in
I Reali di Francia by Andrea da Barberino (c. 1370-1431), an Italian prose compilation and adaptation of the Old French
chansons de geste of the Matter of France concerning Charlemagne and Roland. He can be identified with the earlier French hero
Floovant.
Folk etymology connects Fioravante and Floovant to Latin florem (nominative flos) meaning "flower" (source of Italian fiore and names such as Florent and Fiorente). Alternatively it has been suggested that Floovant derives from the Germanic name Chlodovech, perhaps via a patronymic *Chlodoving meaning "descendant of Chlodovech", referring to the 5th-century Frankish king Clovis I who founded the Merovingian dynasty; this theory may be supported by the fact that in the Frankish language the fricative consonant -ch- typically became -f-; for example, Clovis (Cloovis in Old French) was also known as Floovis in Merovingian texts.
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
From the English word
felicity meaning
"happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin
felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name
Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series
Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.
Faust
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: FOWST(German)
From a German surname that was derived from the Latin name
Faustus. This is the name of a character in German legends about a man who makes a pact with the devil, via his representative
Mephistopheles. He is believed to be based on the character of Dr. Johann Faust (1480-1540). His story was adapted by writers such as Christopher Marlowe and Goethe.
Faarax
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Somali
Eudes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French
Pronounced: UUD(French)
Ethelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ETH-ə-lin
Ethel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ETH-əl
Short form of names beginning with the Old English element
æðele meaning
"noble". It was coined in the 19th century, when many Old English names were revived. It was popularized by the novels
The Newcomes (1855) by William Makepeace Thackeray and
The Daisy Chain (1856) by C. M. Yonge. A famous bearer was American actress and singer Ethel Merman (1908-1984).
Esben
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Norwegian
Esa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: EH-sah
Erwan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Breton
Erlend
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Erekle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: ერეკლე(Georgian)
Georgian form of
Herakleios (see
Heraclius). This name was borne by two Georgian kings of the Bagrationi dynasty.
Erdmann
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Archaic)
Pronounced: EWT-man
Variant of
Hartmann. It can also be interpreted as meaning "earth man" from German
Erde "earth", and thus was sometimes used as a translation of
Adam.
Ensio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: EHN-see-o
Derived from Finnish ensi meaning "first".
Enric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan
Pronounced: ən-REEK
Catalan form of
Heinrich (see
Henry).
Enok
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Swedish, Biblical Norwegian, Biblical Danish
Pronounced: EH-nok(Swedish)
Scandinavian form of
Enoch.
Enoch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: חֲנוֹך(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐνώχ, Ἑνώχ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-nək(English)
From the Hebrew name
חֲנוֹך (Ḥanoḵ) meaning
"dedicated". In Genesis in the
Old Testament this is the name of the son of
Cain. It is also the name of a son of
Jared and the father of
Methuselah, who was the supposed author of the apocryphal Books of Enoch.
Ena 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Emrik
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian
Emmi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: EHM-mee
Short form of names beginning with Em.
Emery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ə-ree
Norman French form of
Emmerich. The
Normans introduced it to England, and though it was never popular, it survived until the end of the Middle Ages. As a modern given name, now typically feminine, it is likely inspired by the surname
Emery, which was itself derived from the medieval given name. It can also be given in reference to the hard black substance called emery.
Émeric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EHM-REEK
Elton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Albanian, Swedish (Modern)
Pronounced: EHL-tən(English)
From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning
"Ella's town". A famous bearer of this name is British musician Elton John (1947-), born Reginald Dwight, who adopted his
stage name in honour of his former bandmate Elton Dean (1945-2006).
Elsinore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: EHL-sin-awr(American English) ehl-si-NAWR(American English)
From the name of
Hamlet's castle, which is an anglicized form of
Helsingør, a Danish place name meaning "neck, narrow strait" (see
Elsinore). Use of this place name as a feminine personal name is likely due to its similarity to
Eleanor and
Elsa.
Elora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture, English (Modern)
Probably an invented name. This is the name of an infant girl in the fantasy movie Willow (1988). Since the release of the movie the name has been steadily used, finally breaking into the top 1000 in the United States in 2015.
Elisheva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אֱלִישֶׁבַע(Hebrew)
Eliel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1], Biblical Greek, Finnish, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Other Scripts: אֱלִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐλιήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-lee-ehl(Finnish) eh-lee-EW(Brazilian Portuguese)
Means
"my God is God" in Hebrew. This name is borne by a number of characters in the
Old Testament.
Elgiva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon (Latinized)
Eino
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: AY-no(Finnish)
Meaning unknown, possibly a Finnish form of a Scandinavian name.
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew
עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight"
[1], or perhaps derived from Sumerian
𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the
Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people,
Adam and
Eve, lived before they were expelled.
Ebba 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: EHB-ə
From the Old English name
Æbbe, meaning unknown, perhaps a contracted form of a longer name.
Saint Ebba was a 7th-century daughter of King Æthelfrith of Bernicia and the founder of monasteries in Scotland. Another saint named Ebba was a 9th-century abbess and martyr who mutilated her own face so that she would not be raped by the invading Danes.
Earle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: URL
Durante
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: doo-RAN-teh
Italian form of the Late Latin name Durans, which meant "enduring".
Durant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Occitan
Durans
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Dunstan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Anglo-Saxon
Pronounced: DUN-stən(English)
From the Old English elements
dunn "dark" and
stan "stone". This name was borne by a 10th-century
saint, the archbishop of Canterbury. It was occasionally used in the Middle Ages, though it died out after the 16th century. It was revived by the Tractarian movement in the 19th century.
Draven
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: DRAY-vən(English)
From a surname (of unknown meaning) that was used in the movie The Crow (1994).
Dizier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French, History
Medieval French variant of
Désiré. This was the name of a 6th-century French saint.
Désiré
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DEH-ZEE-REH
Desiderio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: deh-zee-DEH-ryo(Italian) deh-see-DHEH-ryo(Spanish)
Desi
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHZ-ee
Diminutive of
Desmond,
Desiree and other names beginning with a similar sound. In the case of musician and actor Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) it was a diminutive of
Desiderio.
Desdouleurs
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Louisiana Creole (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: deh-daw-LEHR
Derived from French
des douleurs, meaning "the sorrows" and used as the Louisiana Creole equivalent of
Dolores.
Desdemona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: dehz-də-MO-nə(English)
Derived from Greek
δυσδαίμων (dysdaimon) meaning
"ill-fated". This is the name of the wife of
Othello in Shakespeare's play
Othello (1603).
Denis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Russian, English, German, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Romanian, Croatian, Albanian
Other Scripts: Денис(Russian)
Pronounced: DU-NEE(French) dyi-NYEES(Russian) DEHN-is(English) DEH-nis(German, Czech)
From
Denys or
Denis, the medieval French forms of
Dionysius.
Saint Denis was a 3rd-century missionary to Gaul and the first bishop of Paris. He was martyred by decapitation, after which legend says he picked up his own severed head and walked for a distance while preaching a sermon. He is credited with converting the Gauls to Christianity and is considered the patron saint of France.
This name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and it was imported by the Normans to England. It is now regularly spelled Dennis in the English-speaking world. A notable bearer was the French philosopher Denis Diderot (1713-1784).
Delphine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DEHL-FEEN
Darrell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, African American
Pronounced: DAR-il(English)
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French d'Airelle, originally denoting one who came from Airelle in France. As a given name it was moderately popular from the 1930s to the 1970s, but it dropped off the American top 1000 rankings in 2018.
Damien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DA-MYEHN
Dagmar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, German, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: DOW-mar(Danish) DAK-mar(German) DAG-mar(Czech)
From the Old Norse name
Dagmær, derived from the elements
dagr "day" and
mær "maid". This was the name adopted by the popular Bohemian wife of the Danish king Valdemar II when they married in 1205. Her birth name was
Markéta.
Cyril
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: SIR-əl(English) SEE-REEL(French) TSI-ril(Czech)
From the Greek name
Κύριλλος (Kyrillos), which was derived from Greek
κύριος (kyrios) meaning
"lord", a word used frequently in the Greek Bible to refer to God or Jesus.
This name was borne by a number of important saints, including Cyril of Jerusalem, a 4th-century bishop and Doctor of the Church, and Cyril of Alexandria, a 5th-century theologian. Another Saint Cyril was a 9th-century Greek missionary to the Slavs, who is credited with creating the Glagolitic alphabet with his brother Methodius in order to translate the Bible into Slavic. The Cyrillic alphabet, named after him, is descended from Glagolitic.
This name has been especially well-used in Eastern Europe and other places where Orthodox Christianity is prevalent. It came into general use in England in the 19th century.
Cyriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Flemish
Dutch (Flemish) form of
Cyril.
Cosette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Literature
Pronounced: KAW-ZEHT(French)
From French
chosette meaning
"little thing". This is the nickname of the illegitimate daughter of Fantine in Victor Hugo's novel
Les Misérables (1862). Her real name is
Euphrasie, though it is seldom used. In the novel young Cosette is the ward of the cruel Thénardiers until she is retrieved by Jean Valjean.
Corvin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German (Swiss, Rare), Romanian
Pronounced: COR-vin(English)
English,German and Romanian form of
Corvinus.
Cormick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Corin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Rare)
Corentin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Breton, French
Pronounced: ko-REHN-teen(Breton) KAW-RAHN-TEHN(French)
French form of the Breton name Kaourintin, possibly from korventenn meaning "hurricane, storm". Alternatively, it could be connected to the Brythonic root *karid meaning "love" (modern Breton karout). This was the name of a 5th-century bishop of Quimper in Brittany.
Corbinian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare)
Pronounced: kawr-BEE-nee-an
Cloud
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Archaic), History (Ecclesiastical)
Pronounced: KLOO(French)
Derived from various Germanic names beginning with the element
Chlodo-, particularly
Chlodowald and
Chlodulf.
Cherie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHEHR-ee, shə-REE
Derived from French
chérie meaning
"darling". In America,
Cherie came into use shortly after the variant
Sherry, and has not been as common.
Cenric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon [1]
Derived from Old English
cene "bold" and
ric "ruler, king".
Cédric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SEH-DREEK
Carthach
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: KAR-həkh
Means
"loving" in Irish. This was the name of two Irish
saints, from the 6th and 7th centuries.
Carlman
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Cameron
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAM-rən
From a Scottish surname meaning
"crooked nose" from Gaelic
cam "crooked" and
sròn "nose". As a given name it is mainly used for boys. It got a little bump in popularity for girls in the second half of the 1990s, likely because of the fame of actress Cameron Diaz (1972-). In the United States, the forms
Camryn and
Kamryn are now more popular than
Cameron for girls.
Cadvan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British, Rare)
Burton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUR-tən(American English) BU-tən(British English)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "fortified town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was Richard Burton (1821-1890), an explorer of Africa and Asia.
Bugsy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From a nickname derived from the slang term bugsy meaning "crazy, unstable". It was notably borne by the American gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (1906-1947).
Brúnn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse
Means "brown; shining". Related to German
Bruno.
Briar Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: BRIE-ər ROZ(English)
English translation of German
Dornröschen. This is the name of the fairy tale character Sleeping Beauty in the Brothers Grimm version of the story.
Briar
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BRIE-ər
From the English word for the thorny plant.
Boris
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Russian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, German, French
Other Scripts: Борис(Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, Macedonian) ბორის(Georgian)
Pronounced: bu-RYEES(Russian) BAWR-is(English) BO-rees(Croatian) BO-ris(Czech, German) BAW-rees(Slovak) BAW-REES(French)
From a Bulgar Turkic name, also recorded as
Bogoris, perhaps meaning
"short" or
"wolf" or
"snow leopard". It was borne by the 9th-century Boris I of Bulgaria, who converted his realm to Christianity and is thus regarded as a
saint in the Orthodox Church. To the north in Kievan Rus it was the name of another saint, a son of
Vladimir the Great who was murdered with his brother
Gleb in the 11th century. His mother may have been Bulgarian.
Other notable bearers of the name include the Russian emperor Boris Godunov (1552-1605), later the subject of a play of that name by Aleksandr Pushkin, as well as the Russian author Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), the Bulgarian king Boris III (1894-1943), and the Russian president Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007).
Bonifaz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare)
Pronounced: BO-nee-fats, bo-nee-FATS
German form of
Bonifatius (see
Boniface).
Bondavid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Jewish, Judeo-Catalan (Archaic)
Blasco
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Spanish, Spanish (Latin American, Rare), Italian (Rare)
Medieval Spanish variant of
Blas.
Blas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: BLAS
Blaire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BLEHR
Billie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BIL-ee
Bertrand
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BEHR-TRAHN(French) BUR-trənd(English)
Derived from the Old German elements
beraht meaning "bright" and
rant meaning "rim (of a shield)". From an early date it has been confused with
Bertram and the two names have merged to some degree.
Saint Bertrand was an 11th-century bishop of Comminges in France. Another famous bearer was the English philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970).
Bertram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BUR-trəm(English) BEHR-tram(German)
Means
"bright raven", derived from the Old German element
beraht "bright" combined with
hram "raven". This name has long been conflated with
Bertrand. The
Normans introduced it to England, and Shakespeare used it in his play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Bernhardt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare), Banat Swabian
Pronounced: BERN-hart(German)
Bernadette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: BEHR-NA-DEHT(French) bər-nə-DEHT(English)
French feminine form of
Bernard. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) was a young woman from Lourdes in France who claimed to have seen visions of the Virgin
Mary. She was declared a
saint in 1933.
Berkley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Berkeley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAR-KLEE
Transferred use of the surname
Berkeley.
Berkay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: behr-KIE
Derived from Turkish
berk meaning "mighty, firm, solid" and
ay meaning "moon".
Beowulf
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon Mythology
Pronounced: BAY-ə-wuwlf(English)
Possibly means
"bee wolf" (in effect equal to "bear") from Old English
beo "bee" and
wulf "wolf". Alternatively, the first element may be
beadu "battle". This is the name of the main character in the anonymous 8th-century epic poem
Beowulf. Set in Denmark, the poem tells how he slays the monster Grendel and its mother at the request of King
Hroðgar. After this Beowulf becomes the king of the Geats. The conclusion of the poem tells how Beowulf, in his old age, slays a dragon but is himself mortally wounded in the act.
Barkley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BARK-lee
From a surname which is a variant of
Barclay.
Balthazar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: BAL-thə-zahr(English)
Variant of
Belshazzar. Balthazar is the name traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who visited the newborn
Jesus. He was said to have come from Arabia. This name was utilized by Shakespeare for minor characters in
The Comedy of Errors (1594) and
The Merchant of Venice (1596).
Autumn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-təm
From the name of the season, ultimately from Latin autumnus. This name has been in general use since the 1960s.
Ausonius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: aw-SON-i-us(English)
Derivative of
Auson. This is the name of a Roman poet (310-395).
Auric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture, Literature
Auric Goldfinger is the antogonist of James Bond in 'Goldfinger' by Ian Flemming. The name derives from Latin #aurum "gold" and maens "golden". Also in the case of French composer Georges Auric (1899-1983), transferred from the surname
Auric.
Aulis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: OW-lees
Means "willing, helpful" in Finnish.
Auberi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French
Aster
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AS-tər
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Latin from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning "star".
Asim 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: عاصم(Arabic, Urdu)
Pronounced: ‘A-seem(Arabic)
Means
"protector" in Arabic, from the root
عصم (ʿaṣama) meaning "to protect".
Asherah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Pronounced: ə-SHEER-ə(English)
Perhaps derived from Semitic roots meaning "she who walks in the sea". This was the name of a Semitic mother goddess. She was worshipped by the Israelites before the advent of monotheism.
Asher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אָשֵׁר(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ASH-ər(English)
Means
"happy, blessed" in Hebrew, derived from
אָשַׁר (ʾashar) meaning "to be happy, to be blessed". Asher in the
Old Testament is a son of
Jacob by
Leah's handmaid
Zilpah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The meaning of his name is explained in
Genesis 30:13.
Asger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish
From the Old Norse name
Ásgeirr, derived from the elements
áss meaning "god" and
geirr meaning "spear". It is a
cognate of
Ansgar.
Arnaud
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AR-NO
Arnau
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan
Pronounced: ər-NOW
Armin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: AR-meen
Armen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Armenian
Other Scripts: Արմեն(Armenian)
Pronounced: ahr-MEHN
Derived from the name of the country of
Armenia (which is in fact named
Հայաստան (Hayastan) in Armenian).
Armas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AHR-mahs
Means "beloved" in Finnish (an archaic poetic word).
Aristide
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Italian
Pronounced: A-REES-TEED(French) a-REES-tee-deh(Italian)
Arioch
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend, Hebrew
Pronounced: A´rEok(Biblical English, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend, Hebrew)
Meaning: "a fierce lion" or "lion-like" and "venerable".
This was the name of two biblical men, Arioch was a king of Ellasar who was allied with Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:1,9) and Captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guard (Dan. 2:14-15, 24-25).
Originally appears in the Book of Genesis chap. 14 as the "King of Ellasar", part of the confederation of kings who did battle with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and with Abraham in the vale of Siddim.
Aric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Arendt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Swedish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian
Arend
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, German (Rare)
Pronounced: A-rənt(Dutch)
Dutch and German variant of
Arnold. This is also the Dutch word for "eagle".
April
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-prəl
From the name of the month, probably originally derived from Latin aperire "to open", referring to the opening of flowers. It has only been commonly used as a given name since the 1940s.
Apolena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: A-po-leh-na(Czech)
Antony
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-tə-nee
Variant of
Anthony. This was formerly the usual English spelling of the name, but during the 17th century the
h began to be added.
Antón
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Galician, Spanish
Pronounced: an-TONG(Galician) an-TON(Spanish)
Galician form and Spanish variant of
Antonius (see
Anthony).
Anton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, Croatian, Romanian, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, English
Other Scripts: Антон(Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Macedonian) ანტონ(Georgian)
Pronounced: AN-ton(German) AN-tawn(German) un-TON(Russian) AHN-tawn(Dutch) un-TAWN(Ukrainian) an-TON(Belarusian, Slovene, Romanian) AHN-ton(Finnish) AN-TAWN(Georgian) AN-tahn(English)
Form of
Antonius (see
Anthony) used in various languages. A notable bearer was the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904).
Anthelm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
From the Old German element
anto meaning "zeal" combined with
helm meaning "helmet, protection".
Saint Anthelm was a 12th-century bishop of Belley in France.
Antero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AHN-teh-ro
Antelmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish (Rare), Portuguese (Rare), Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: an-TEHL-mo(Spanish)
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of
Anthelm.
Ansgar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Swedish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: ANS-gar(German)
Derived from the Old German elements
ansi "god" and
ger "spear".
Saint Ansgar was a 9th-century Frankish missionary who tried to convert the Danes and Norwegians.
Ansegar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Ansar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: أنصار(Arabic) انصار(Urdu)
Pronounced: an-SAR(Arabic)
Means
"helpers" in Arabic, referring to those who helped the Prophet
Muhammad when he came to Medina.
Annabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AN-ə-behl(English)
Variant of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and French
belle "beautiful".
Annabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English (Modern)
Pronounced: an-na-BEHL-la(Italian) an-ə-BEHL-ə(English)
Latinate form of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and Latin/Italian
bella "beautiful".
Angharad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, Old Welsh (Modernized) [1], Welsh Mythology
From an Old Welsh name recorded in various forms such as
Acgarat and
Ancarat. It means
"much loved", from the intensive prefix
an- combined with a mutated form of
caru "to love". In the medieval Welsh romance
Peredur son of Efrawg, Angharad Golden-Hand is the lover of the knight
Peredur.
Anastasie
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French, Romanian (Rare)
Pronounced: A-NAS-TA-ZEE(French)
Anastas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Анастас(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: a-na-STAS(Bulgarian)
Anas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: أنس(Arabic)
Pronounced: A-nas
Means
"friendliness" in Arabic. Anas ibn Malik was one of the Prophet
Muhammad's companions.
Anaruz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Berber, Northern African
Other Scripts: ⴰⵏⴰⵔⵓⵣ(Berber Tifinagh)
Means "hope" in Tamazight.
Anand
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati
Other Scripts: आनंद, आनन्द(Hindi) आनंद(Marathi) ஆனந்த்(Tamil) ఆనంద్(Telugu) ആനന്ദ്(Malayalam) ಆನಂದ್(Kannada) આનંદ(Gujarati)
Pronounced: A-nənd(Hindi) AH-nənd(Gujarati)
Anakoni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Anakin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: AN-ə-kin(English)
Meaning unknown. This is the name of a character (also known as Darth Vader) in the Star Wars movie saga, created by George Lucas. Lucas may have based it on the surname of his friend and fellow director Ken Annakin.
Amund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Derived from the Old Norse name
Agmundr, from the element
egg "edge of a sword" or
agi "awe, fear" combined with
mundr "protection".
Amnón
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Spanish
Amergin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology
Pronounced: Av-ir-in
This was the name of two poets in Irish mythology.
Amaury
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-MAW-REE
Amabilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Amabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Altan 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Means "red dawn" in Turkish.
Alrik
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: AHL-rik
Modern Swedish form of Old Norse
Alríkr.
Alric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Combination of elements al meaning "noble" and ric "power, ruler."
Allen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-ən
Variant of
Alan, or from a surname that was derived from this same name. A famous bearer of this name was Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), an American beat poet. Another is the American film director and actor Woody Allen (1935-), who took the
stage name Allen from his real first name.
Alix
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-LEEKS
Medieval French variant of
Alice, also sometimes used as a masculine name. This is the name of the hero (a young Gaulish man) of a French comic book series, which debuted in 1948.
Algar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AL-gahr
Means
"elf spear" from Old English
ælf "elf" and
gar "spear". This Old English name was rarely used after the
Norman Conquest, being absorbed by similar-sounding names and Norman and Scandinavian cognates. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
Alexandria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-dree-ə
Feminine form of
Alexander. Alexander the Great founded several cities by this name (or renamed them) as he extended his empire eastward. The most notable of these is Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander in 331 BC.
Alaric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Gothic (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃(Gothic)
Pronounced: AL-ə-rik(English)
From the Gothic name *
Alareiks meaning
"ruler of all", derived from the element
alls "all" combined with
reiks "ruler, king". This was the name of a king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in the 5th century.
Alannah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-LAN-ə(English)
Variant of
Alana. It has been influenced by the affectionate Anglo-Irish word
alannah, from the Irish Gaelic phrase
a leanbh meaning "O child".
Alanis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-LAN-is
Feminine form of
Alan. Canadian musician Alanis Morissette (1974-) was named after her father Alan. Her parents apparently decided to use this particular spelling after seeing this word in a Greek newspaper.
Alan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish, Breton, French, Polish
Pronounced: AL-ən(English) A-lahn(Breton) A-LAHN(French)
The meaning of this name is not known for certain. It was used in Brittany at least as early as the 6th century, and it possibly means either
"little rock" or
"handsome" in Breton. Alternatively, it may derive from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries.
This was the name of several dukes of Brittany, and Breton settlers introduced it to England after the Norman Conquest. Famous modern bearers include Alan Shepard (1923-1998), the first American in space and the fifth man to walk on the moon, and Alan Turing (1912-1954), a British mathematician and computer scientist.
Aino
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Estonian, Finnish Mythology
Pronounced: IE-no(Finnish)
Means
"the only one" in Finnish. In the Finnish epic the
Kalevala this is the name of a girl who drowns herself when she finds out she must marry the old man
Väinämöinen.
Ainārs
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Latvian
From Latvian aina meaning "scene, sight".
Aina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: IE-nah(Finnish) IE-na(Swedish)
Variant of
Aino. It also means "always" in Finnish.
Aina 4
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Latvian
Agramante
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Carolingian Cycle
Probably a variant of
Agolant, used for the invading Saracen king in the
Orlando poems (1495 and 1532) by Boiardo and Ariosto.
Agolant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Carolingian Cycle
Possibly a Romance language form of Arabic
الأغلب (al-ʾAghlab), a 9th-century emir of Ifriqiya in North Africa
[1], which is derived from
أغلب (ʾaghlab) meaning "predominant, supreme". This is the name of a Saracen king in medieval French tales of
Charlemagne and his knights.
Agapi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Αγάπη(Greek)
Pronounced: a-GHA-pee
Modern Greek form of
Agape.
Adrien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-DREE-YEHN
Ademola
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Yoruba
Means "the crown is with wealth" in Yoruba.
Adalric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic
Means "noble power", derived from Old High German adal "noble" combined with rîcja "powerful, strong, mighty." The second element is also closely related to Celtic rîg or rix and Gothic reiks, which all mean "king, ruler."
Adaire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Feminine variant of
Adair.
Abbas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Azerbaijani, Urdu
Other Scripts: عبّاس(Arabic, Persian, Urdu)
Pronounced: ‘ab-BAS(Arabic) ab-BAWS(Persian)
Means
"austere" in Arabic. This was the name of the Prophet
Muhammad's uncle. It was also borne by a son of
Ali, the fourth caliph.
Aaretti
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AH-reht-tee
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